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'' |image= |series= |production=40840-258 |producer(s)= |story= |script=James Kahn |director=Peter Lauritson |imdbref=tt0394914 |guests=Manu Intiraymi as Icheb, Juan Garcia as John Torres, Jessica Gaona as Young B'Elanna Torres, Javier Grajeda as Carl Torres, Paul Robert Langdon as Dean Torres, Nicole Sarah Fellows as Elizabeth Torres and Gilbert R. Leal as Michael Torres |previous_production=Shattered |next_production=Repentance |episode=VGR S07E12 |airdate=January 24, 2001 |previous_release=Shattered |next_release=Repentance |story_date(s)=54452.6 (2377/2350s) |previous_story=Shattered |next_story=Repentance }} Summary B'Elanna Torres is in a good mood, until she arrives at work in Engineering and almost faints. Icheb scans her and states that she has a parasite within her. Seven of Nine also scans Torres and comes up with a different diagnosis: B'Elanna is pregnant. The Doctor confirms Seven's diagnosis. The fetus is seven weeks old, and perfectly healthy, except for a genetic defect that causes abnormal spine curvature in Klingon females. B'Elanna, who is half Klingon, had surgery as a baby to correct this defect. The Doctor says that nowadays genetic resequencing is the preferred treatment and that he can perform the procedure the following day. He also shows Tom Paris and B'Elanna a holographic projection of what their daughter will look like. Tom thinks she is beautiful but B'Elanna is distressed to learn her daughter will have Klingon facial ridges. During the procedure the next day, B'Elanna reminisces back to her childhood as a Klingon girl on the colony in which she grew up. She blames herself, especially her Klingon half, for her human father leaving her, and resolves to not let the same happen to her daughter. She proposes further genetic resequencing to delete various Klingon genes, but the Doctor and B'Elanna's husband Tom Paris disagree. During one of the couple's arguments, Torres mentions Voyager has 140 humans on board (not intended as a full crew count, as Vulcans, Bolians and Bajorans and other aliens are also part of the crew). They can't reach a consensus, so they speak to Janeway, who tells them that their problem isn't about ethics, it's about marital affairs. As a friend, she'll offer them advice; but as the captain, she won't overrule the Doctor. They still can't work it out, so Paris ends up staying the night in Harry's quarters. The next day, they have seemed to make up, but just then, the Doctor calls them. In Sickbay, the Doctor reveals that he has changed his mind and believes that the procedure will be required. Tom is disturbed by this and seeks a second opinion from Icheb. Icheb disagrees with the Doctor's new assessment and Seven discovers that the EMH's program has been tampered with. Tom stops the procedure in the nick of time, and he and B'Elanna have an argument. She tearfully admits what she fears will happen to her daughter; that Paris will leave them like her father left her, and Tom reaffirms his commitment to his growing family. The Doctor's alterations are removed, and B'Elanna apologizes to the Doctor and asks him to be the godfather. The Doctor accepts, and B'Elanna feels the baby kick. She then sees the holographic projection one more time and admits that she is cute. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Adam Bomb on Saturday, January 20, 2001 - 10:56 pm: I thought that B'Elanna had begun to make peace with her Klingon half in Barge of the Dead Yet here, she seems angry that her and Tom's baby will have Klingon features. The child is 1/4 Klingon, after all. Maybe she is not entirely at peace with her Klingon heritage yet. # Is Roxann Dawson pregnant again? Will there be a return of the "hide the belly" jacket not seen since "Hope and Fear?" It looked like she was carrying auto tire pressure gauges in the pocket of that jacket. Maybe that is why the ship can't go at warp speed-Janeway can't find an air hose, or she won't pay 25 cents for five minutes. (I never have, either, in 28 years and five cars.) Wannabe Trek Writer on Sunday, January 21, 2001 - 6:13 pm: You know, I have never asked, but I don't think Dawson is pregnant again. Certainly, the pregnancy hasn't been incorporated into the plot because she's pregnant (like with Nana Visitor). The B'Elanna pregnancy is something that had been discussed last year. In either case, there would be no real reason for her to wear the "hide the belly" jacket because they wouldn't be trying to hide it this time around. Brian Lombard on Tuesday, January 23, 2001 - 7:47 am: She's not. I read an interview with her at Section31.com, and she joked at the fact that three years ago they hid her real pregnancy, and now they're faking one for her. Pretty ironic. # Corey Hines on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 6:59 pm: With this problem with Klingon female spines, what did they do before medical technology, hit them in the back really hard with a stick to straighten them out? Perhaps the child would have to wear a VERY tight corset like garment/support brace. # In Equinox, Part II, I thought the doctor added security to his program to prevent tampering. Jwb52z on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:31 pm: B'Elanna can probably override the doctor's security codes since she's an engineer on the ship.Kyle Powderly on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 9:56 am: I don't see any problem with the question of Torres' tampering with the Doctor's program. As Chief Engineer, she's been the Doctor's "doctor" and would have, I imagine, unrestricted access to his code. # Jason on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 7:53 pm: Wouldn't eliminating lots of genetic material have really bad results? Unless they are getting extra genetic material from the Father. Especially in trek, where any genetic alterations result in instantaneous changes. Jwb52z on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:31 pm: Klingon physiology is unique which means that most likely, only redundant organs and other extra and non essential bits would be eliminated. BTW, when a baby is conceived, you don't get just one gene for everything. You get 2 or more. One dominant and one recessive and some that are complementary.''Seniram 17:25, August 6, 2018 (UTC)''They could always produce extra human DNA from B'Elanna. # Spornan on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:02 pm: B'ellana tells a nameless technician that if he keeps the Warp Field stable, they might get home a few years earlier. Why would he need to keep the warp field stable when they aren't going at Warp? An unstable warp field could result in distortions in the ship structure or the power supply system. # Janeway mentions that Seven would fill in for B'elanna if need be. Why? Isn't there a chain of command for Engineering? Isn't Seven a non-commissioned officer? I would think that one of those yellow shirts that works in Engineering would take over for her. Can you imagine how angry you'd be, slaving away in Engineering for six years, and when the time comes that you might get to act as Chief Engineer for a little while, some Ex-Borg civilian crewmember gets the job? The Undesirable Element on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 2:10 pm: Okay, Seven is the most intelligent human on the ship. (Kim said this to Seven in some episode. I forget which.) Now, the way I see it, Engineering is a VERY vital place. If I had my choice between Vorik (kind of dumb for a Vulcan), Carey (He's probably a lousy engineer if he's never around) or Seven of Nine (who's has the collective knowledge of all kinds of engineering) I think I'd choose Seven. # Shane Tourtellotte on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:25 pm: The Doctor says that Klingon traits remain dominant through several generations. Now, correct me if I'm wrong(and since I'm here, I'm sure you will), but in NextGen, wasn't K'eylehr (Worf's mate) supposed to have been the first human-Klingon hybrid? There wouldn't have been enough time to track 'several generations'. Jwb52z on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:42 pm: It's called scientific modeling and use of the ability to extrapolate on genetics. They can see how things change over time and see how long certain traits will last which is also what gave them the ability to see what B'Elanna's baby would look like.Tricorder on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 11:18 pm: To Shane Tourtellotte: I caught the TNG episode featuring K'eylehr the other night and watched it wondering how it might contradict with this one. K'eylehr is not established as the first human-Klingon hybrid. Troi commented that she did not know of any, and K'eylehr's response indicated that such matings are rare, but apparently not unheard of. She also said her mother experienced complications during her pregnancy, but I don't get the impression that the writers brought up similar complications in B'Elanna's story. In short, it is possible that there have multiple generations are human-Klingon mixes.Kyle Powderly on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 9:56 am: Could this be a very subtle reference to Worf's reluctance in the DS9 ep Trials and Tribble-ations as to why Klingons in the time of Classic Trek didn't look the same as Klingon's a century later? # The last I heard, eugenic modification was illegal in the Federation. That is what Torres is talking about, right, despite all her couching it in terms of the baby's health? Or does a Federation starship in the Delta Quadrant not count as Federation territory? (Fat chance.) Jwb52z on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:42 pm: The thing that is illegal is genetic modification to increase the child's mental capacity. Creation of beings like Kahn Noonien Singh is what created the need for that being illegal.Shane Tourtellotte on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 8:53 pm: If I recall correctly the DS9 episode where Dr. Bashir's eugenic background is revealed, it is stated that eugenics is illegal save for the correction of serious genetic defects. Forehead ridges are not in the same league as, say, cystic fibrosis. Oh, and Khan's physical strength was augmented as well as his mental abilities, so by your theory, that should have been outlawed as well. # D.W. March on Wednesday, January 24, 2001 - 11:15 pm: Harry cuts off the power to the surgical bay but all the lights stay on. The lights could have their own back up power supply. # Brian Lombard on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 5:20 am: Paris goes to Icheb because he knows the former Borg knows a thing or two about genetics. He does? Just a little while earlier, he thought the baby was a parasite. Spornan on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 6:48 am: Icheb is an expert in genetics, not human biology. That may have something to do with it. # Biz on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 7:36 am: In my opinion, Icheb had no business "scanning" B'Ellana. That should have been left to the Doctor. Moreover, when have we seen someone scanned with a non-medical tricorder? Rene on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 7:48 am: In that TNG episode with that girl who didn't know she was a Q, Dr. Crusher had her test all the tricorders by scanning herself. Newt on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 8:33 am: I have to agree with Biz, since all B'Elanna did was faint, I think that Icheb's whipping out of the tricorder and scanning her was a bit uncalled for and socially questionable. TomM on Thursday, January 25, 2001 - 8:31 pm: Maybe this (Icheb's use on a non medical tricorder), along with his apparent lack of experience with pregnant women, is why Icheb thought it might be a parasite.Dale on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 6:55 am: I tend to agree that scanning should be left to doctors. Imagine if B'Elanna fainted, was casually scanned by Icheb, who then announced in his matter-of-fact way: "It appears you have late-stage terminal breast cancer." Spornan on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 10:48 am: If someone faints/collapses right next to you, you are going to do whatever you can in the heat of the moment to help them. If that means scanning them quickly to shed some light on why they fainted, I don't see anything wrong with that. It's no different then a layman putting his ear to a collapsed persons chest to see if they are breathing. Dale on Friday, January 26, 2001 - 10:53 am: Scanning, fine. Blurting out diagnosis, not fine. Category:Episodes Category:Voyager